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Question

Posted by: T | 2008/12/05

Q.

Flu , anitbiotic &amp diaorhea

Hi dr. My son had flu &amp i took him to the paed and she prescribed some antibiotic for him &amp some probiotic something so that he doesn' t have a funny reaction to the antibiotic. This was on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday evening his stools became loose &amp i thought it would clear but it hasn' t (Friday today). I stopped giving him the anitbiotic yesterday. Could it be the reason for his loose stools? I am worried he might be getting dehydrated. He' s 15 weeks old. What can i do? His paed is not available until 1pm.

Expert's Reply

A.

This is what happens when an antibiotic is given for a viral illness. Antibiotics do not help at all and you only land up with the side effects. In your son's case he now has bad diarrhoea. Stop the antibiotic. Give him a probiotic such as Reuteri Infant drops daily for 10 days and give him extra sips of a Rehidrat solution as often as he will take this electrolyte solution. This will prevent him from becoming dehydrated and from losing essential salts from his body.

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